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Shrunken Heads Still On Display In Curio Shops Around The World

The Process Of Making Shrunken Heads:

The skull was removed from the head; the maker would make an incision on the back of the neck and proceeded to remove all the skin and flesh from the cranium. Afterwards, they placed red seeds underneath the eyelids and sewed them shut. The mouth was held together with three palm pins. The extra flesh from the inside of the head was removed. The skin was then boiled in water in which a number of herbs containing tannins were steeped, then dried and cured with hot rocks and sand, while being molded by the preparer to retain its human features. The skin was then rubbed down with charcoal ash, with the belief that this would keep the avenging soul of the victim, from seeing out. The lips were sewn shut, and various decorative beads were added to the head.   Shrunken heads are known for their facial distortion and shrinkage of the lateral sides of the forehead; these are positive artifacts of the process of shrinking the head, making the head look like it is in agony - giving it a lifelike quality.   Among the Shuar and Achuar, the reduction of the heads was followed by a series of feasts centered on important rituals.

For more information about the actual steps to create a Shrunken Head visit www.ShrinkHeads.com

Shrunken Heads On Display

The Practice Of Preparing Shrunken Heads:

The practice of preparing shrunken heads originally had religious significance; shrinking the head of an enemy was believed to harness the spirit of that enemy and compel him to serve the shrinker. It was said to prevent the soul from avenging his death.

Shuar believed in the existence of three fundamental spirits:

• Wakani - innate to humans thus surviving their death.
• Arutam - literally "vision" or "power", protects humans from a violent death.
• Muisak  - vengeful spirit, which surfaces when an arutam spirit-carrying person is murdered.

To block the last spirit from using its powers, they decided to sever their enemies' heads and shrink them. The process also served as a way of warning those enemies. Even with these uses, the owner of the trophy did not keep it for long. Many heads were later used in religious ceremonies and feasts that celebrated the victories of the tribe. Accounts vary as to whether the heads would be discarded or stored. In the late 1800s and early 1900s whites traded shotguns for tsantsas, thus promoting an escalation in inter-tribal warfare.

Celebration Of The Tsantsa:

After a successful attack on an enemy village, the victors were quick to cut or mutilate the bodies of the slain enemies. Having satisfied their desire for vengeance, the warring party made a hasty retreat before their opponents could recover from their surprise. Messengers were sent ahead to announce the outcome of the expedition to the waiting people at home.

A series of tsantsa feasts were held which marked a successful raid. The rituals which followed unfolded in three episodes, each lasting several days with the last feast separated by an interval of approximately a year. The reason for the separation between feasts is to allow the for the re-harvesting of crops for the subsequent celebration. The first of these feasts is referred to as "his very blood" or numpenk. This feast is held at the house of a previously appointed wea, or master of ceremonies who had agreed to act as the host. The second feast is known as fulfillment or amianu, which is celebrated approximately a year later at one of the killer's houses. The host of this celebration usually builds a new house more worthy of the occasion. The third and final of these feasts is called the napin, which is the largest of all feasts with the head-takers supplying all the food and drink for the next six days. Abundant food is required or the head-taker may lose the prestige and notoriety he had acquired during their wartime. The Jivaro warriors smeared themselves with blood and danced with the shrunken heads of their enemies dramatizing the killing.

The reasons behind the ceremonies held with the tsantsa are for the benefit of departed relatives in order to show that the Jivaros are fulfilling their obligations of blood revenge as well as to increase their own prestige. The possession of the trophy enabled the warrior to be singled out in admiration amongst his peers. During this victory celebration, the women captives stood around weeping. Accordingly, if no female captives were taken, proxies were appointed from among their own women to mourn for each tsantsa.

In spite of the grandiose celebrations and the prestige acquired, that the warriors held to celebrate the tsantsa, the host's resources were often depleted during the feasts.

Surprisingly, despite the amount of care and diligence that went into the preparation trophy and feasts, immediately following the final celebration, the heads were often discarded with relative indifference to the children or eventually lost in surrounding swamps.

Source: Head-Hunter.com

For more on the methods and practices of the Jivaro Indians visit www.Head-Hunter.com

For more information about the actual steps to create a Shrunken Head visit www.ShrinkHeads.com

Trade In Shrunken Heads:

At first, cultural restrictions meant that deaths from traditional conflict were relatively rare, and few shrunken heads were prepared. When westerners created an economic demand for shrunken heads, however, there was a sharp increase in the rate of killings in an effort to supply collectors and tourists. Guns were usually what the Shuar acquired in exchange for their shrunken heads, the rate being one gun per head. But weapons were not the only items exchanged; during the 1930s, when heads were freely exchanged, a person could buy a shrunken head for about twenty-five dollars. A stop was put to this when the Peruvian and Ecuadorian governments worked together to outlaw the traffic in heads.

Also encouraged by this trade, as early as the 1870s people in Colombia, Panama, and Ecuador unconnected to the Jνvaros began to make counterfeit tsantas. They used corpses from morgues, or the heads of monkeys or sloths. Some even used goatskin. Kate Duncan wrote in 2001 that "It has been estimated that about 80 percent of the tsantsas in private and museum hands are fraudulent," including almost all that are female or which include an entire torso rather than just a head.

Thor Heyerdahl recounts in Kon-Tiki (1947) the various problems of getting into the Jνvaro (Shuar) area in Ecuador to get balsa wood for his expedition boat. Local people would not guide his team into the forest for fear of becoming themselves shrunken heads.

Since the 1940s, it has been illegal to import shrunken heads into the United States. In 1999, the National Museum of the American Indian repatriated the authentic shrunken heads in its collection to Ecuador. Most other countries have also banned the trade. Currently, replica shrunken heads are manufactured as curios for the tourist trade. These are made from leather and animal hides formed to resemble the originals. Replica shrunken heads, due to their provocative nature, are also popular in the modern punk and gothic culture, where they are often seen hanging as mythic ornaments.